Xiaomin Sun
Professor Debbie Morrison
The Written World (11:00 am)
2 August 2016
Misconceptions of the Dream
In the eyes of outsiders, America is the land of the free and everyone prospers in America
achieving this so called American Dream. Moving to America my family thought that it would
be beneficial to our family by bringing comfort and success to our family. The American Dream
spoke to them deeply, my family wanted to work hard to make a better future for me and
bringing prosperity to the family. Although, America appealed to my family as the land of the
free, opportunity, and equality, but after finally living in this country, the façade tears down and
we are faced with the cold truth.
My whole life I’ve heard people say that America is the dream, the goal and the place
where we are destined to be. I believed them. However, when my family relocated to America
my perceptions about this country and how great this country changed drastically. My parents
don’t have a college degree, therefore, they had a hard time finding a quality job to support the
family of five. There were many language barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination against my
parents in their workplace. My family and I lived in a community of a Jewish culture and
caucasians during the first year, and I felt that everyone was examining us as if we were aliens.
My parents couldn’t grasp the structure and the concept of how things worked in this country as
fast as I did, they were faced with many language barriers similar to what Chang Rae-Lee’s
mother face in his essay “Mute in an English only World”. Language was the biggest barrier for
my parents and grandparents, relating to Lee’s mother. “I couldn’t spend the afternoon playing
catch with my friends but also because I knew our errands would inevitably lead to an awkward
scene, and that I would have to speak up to help my mother”. (Lee Pg 157)Basically, Lee is
saying that because there was a language barrier for his mother, he had to accompany his mother
to accomplish any tasks that needed his help. Lee adapted to the environment and this life very
easily but for his mother, it was much harder to adjust. Lee’s mother had difficulties in
communication which can relate to my mother also having difficulties with communications so I
had to help her accomplish the daily tasks.
Although, my parents thought that the language barrier would eventually fade away, it
stayed until this day. My parents always waited for me to help them pay for the bills, go
shopping and accomplish any task that she couldn’t do herself. When talking about America my
parents thought that they wouldn’t have to face such difficulties, easily adapting to their
environment and achieving the American dream. My parents are somewhat comfortable with
English now but there will still be barriers preventing them accomplishing the tasks on their own.
They continue to seek my help but not as much as before. They were misguided by the illusion
of what the American dr...
